L14: Crisis communication - do's and dont's

Question 1

Rhetorical arena theory (RAT)

What is multivocality?

Answer 1

multiple voices start communicating to, with, from, against, past, and about one another in the arena that opens when an issue or a crisis hits.
› Not all voices want dialogue and consensus. Dissensus also plays out (an agonistic model)

Question 2

Rhetorical arena theory (RAT)

What is communicative complexitity?

Answer 2

interdependencies and patterns of interaction among voices

Question 3

What is a crisis?

Answer 3

From Greek: krisis
› ”A turning point for better or worse”

From a business perspective: e.g.,
› ”..an event that is an unpredictable, major threat that can have a negative effect on the organization, industry or stakeholders if handled improperly” (Coombs, 1999: 2)

› “A crisis is the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of stakeholders related to health, safety, environmental, and economic issues, and can seriously impact an organization’s performance and generate negative outcomes” (Coombs, 2015, p. 3).

Question 4

What is duble crisis?

Answer 4

“A crisis where a communication crisis overlaps the original crisis in so far as the organization in crisis is not able to manage the communication processes that should contribute to the handling of the original crisis” (Johansen & Frandsen, 2007: p. 79)

Question 5

What is paracrisis?

Answer 5

› “is a specific type of crisis warning sign that “mimics the crisis itself” and “appears in full view of stakeholders” (Coombs, 2015)

› ”Paracrises appear to be crises but are actually crisis risks that are being managed in public (Coombs and Holladay 2012, Coombs 2018 in Austin and Jin, p. 25)

› => the reactions and handling of the crisis now becomes visible!
› => and this can lead to double crises!

Question 6

What is a firestorm or shitstorm?

Answer 6

› ”The sudden discharge of large quantities of messages containing negative WOM and complaint behavior against a person, a company, or group in social media networks.

› In these messages, intense indignation is often expressed, without pointing to an actual specific criticism. […]

› The essential feature is that the messages in a firestorm are predominantly opinion, not fact, thus having a high affective nature”

Question 7

Which 3 approaches to crisis communication?

Answer 7

› Rhetorical or text-oriented approach:
› Image Repair Theory (IRT) (William Benoit, 1995/2015)

› Strategic or context-oriented approach:
› Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) (Timothy W. Coombs, 1999/2019)

› Multi-vocal approach:
› Rhetorical Arena Theory (RAT) (Frandsen & Johansen, 2007, 2017)

Question 8

Which two assumptions in Image Repair Theory?

Answer 8

Two assumptions:
· Communication is a goal-directed activity
Key goal: maintaining a favorable reputation

Question 9

What are the steps in Image Repair Strategy?

Answer 9

1) Denial
a. Simple denial
b. Shifting the blame
2) Evading Responsibility
a. Provocation
b. Defeasibility
c. Accident
d. Good intentions
3) Reducing Offensiveness
a. Bolstering
b. Minimization
c. Differentiation
d. Transcendence
e. Attack accuser
f. Compensation
4) Corrective Action
Mortification

Question 10

Describe the two component of the Rhetorical Arena Model

Answer 10

Macro component: Patterns of interaction between voices communicating to, with, against, past or about each other

Micro component: context, media, genre and rhetoric/semiotics (verbal, visual,body language, artifacts, etc.)

Question 11

Faith-holders

Answer 11

Support the brand and attack the accusers (hateholders)

Question 12

Hateholders

Answer 12

Attacks the brand

Question 13

Faith holders

Answer 13

› Attacks related to responsibility: e.g. “Remember you are yourself responsible for payment services from your bank. It isn’t Telenor’s fault that people don’t pay timely or check their bank transfers”

› Attacks related to personal behavior: e.g. “You’re awful complainers, crying and whining in front of your screens. Wake up and talk to them if you have problems”

› Attacks related to code of conduct: e.g. ”Shame on you, all your filth doesn’t belong on Facebook”

=> Forcing some of the critical negative voices to also defend themselves!

Question 14

Hi-jacking

Answer 14

› When different stakeholders perceive an organization’s behavior and/or policies to be inappropriate or unethical.

An example: hi-jacking

› New activist strategies: to attack the inter-organizational relations of an organization, and/or to conduct hi-jacking

› In this case, organizations not only have to think of their own stakeholders but also about the stakeholders of their stakeholders!

› Organizations with a good reputation are now also at risk.